DVDActive uses cookies to remember your actions, such as your answer in the poll. Cookies are
also used by third-parties for statistics, social media and advertising. By using this website, it is
assumed that you agree to this.

Iron Man (US - BD)

Reviewer Marcus Doidge marvels at the new Iron Man Blu-ray from Paramount...

Feature

Iron Man, the first of this year’s offering from the Marvel Comics hits Blu-ray. Jon Favreau directs Robert Downey Jr. as Tony Stark, the billionaire weapons dealer who gets captured in Afghanistan whilst on a routine weapons demonstration. Almost fatally wounded and only saved by a device implanted into his chest to prevent shrapnel from reaching his heart, Tony is ordered to make his captors the latest missile in Stark industries catalogue.

After seeing that Stark Industries weapons are being traded to the bad guys, Tony Stark has other plans. Covertly building a suit of iron that enables him to escape, Tony gets back to American soil and announces to the world that Stark Industries will cease making weapons. This doesn’t go down well with his business associate Obadiah Stane (Jeff Bridges) and worries Stark’s close friends Pepper Potts (Gwyneth Paltrow) and Col. James 'Rhodey' Rhodes (Terrence Howard).

Tony also makes the decision that he wants to protect the very people he’s put in danger, and using his genius mind and improving on his previous iron armour design, he becomes Iron Man as he sets out to put all of his company’s wrongs, right.

Story wise, Iron Man is about as paint by numbers as comic book movies get. Take character through a life changing event, make them see the error of their ways, make them use their abilities for good—you got yourself a superhero movie. Of course, outside of all that you have the love interest who you know should be with the lead but isn’t and the friend that turns out to be a baddie and of course the final battle where the hero that’s known for wearing a mask, loses it, so the studio can show of its star.

This doesn’t make Iron Man at all dull though. It’s packed with entertainment value. Robert Downey Jr. provides a fantastic lead in Stark, in an almost Johnny Depp-esq career evolution. From well respected actor within the industry to full on A-list Megastar over night. He makes Stark a brilliant character and for me to say that after spending much of my comic book reading career finding Tony Stark and Iron Man a waste of printer ink, it really is a hell of an achievement. He’s got genuine chemistry with Paltrow and he totally sells the fun in coming up with the design and tech of Iron Man—and what a world of great tech this is. From the holographic design that everyone wishes their home computer was like, to the actual red and gold of the suit, everything about the Iron Man armour is beautifully realised and almost seamlessly blended between practical and digital effects. I know Superman: The Movie touted it a long time ago, but it’s taken like thirty years for me to actually believe a man can fly.

For all this praise though, I have to say that I didn’t quite get the Iron Man buzz that just seemed to run and run at the beginning of the summer season. It is a lot of fun and considering he’s a lesser known character in the Marvel universe, especially to non-comic readers, this just kept on making money at the box office, which indicates that people kept going back. I really didn’t get this at the time. On my first viewing back in May, I just felt that there wasn’t enough in here for me to rush to see it again anytime soon. Outside of one really good performance surrounded by a lot of average ones, there’s not nearly enough action. The opening twenty odd minutes were pretty sluggish, mainly due to the fact we’d seen the edited highlights in the trailers and knew pretty much beat for beat what was coming. There’s a whole lot of pretty dull stuff with Bridges that is a superhero movie’s way of covering the fact that this is essentially a corporate take-over sub-plot and the last act doesn’t really know what to do with itself to tie things up, beyond a lot of Robocop 2 visuals and some explosions. On this, my second viewing however, all of these issues weren’t quite as weak as I’d original thought. I still think the final act is missing something and I still don’t quite get the massive amount of admiration this all drummed up, considering there’re way better superhero movies out there that get no love at all, but to its credit Iron Man is certainly looking like the franchise to keep an eye on, with a sequel promising to up the game.

Iron Man is Marvel’s first step into having some control over their characters, which can be nothing but a great thing. However on the flipside of that, if we just end up getting origin stories as basic and as generic as this for Captain America, Thor and the others planned, the superhero movie bubble could very well pop long before we get to see them all together in the planned Avengers movie.

Video

Iron Man is presented in 2.35:1 and looks pretty darn good. It’s not a transfer that said ‘reference quality’ to me, which was a little disappointing, but this is mainly due to the overall look of the film rather than the transfer itself.

Colours are sometimes a little muted, but again I feel that this is a design choice that uses a lot of cool blues and greys, as opposed to a transfer problem because when the colours really comes to life, they look great. For example, the gold and red of the armour looks fantastic when brightly lit in Stark’s workshop, explosions look bright and warm and skin tones look good despite suffering from some very slight blocking in the movie’s darker scenes, especially in the cave in the first half.

Thankfully, a lot of Iron Man’s key scenes happen in bright natural daylight and this really shows off the details in this HD transfer. The scratches and scruffs on the costume when it gets battered look absolutely sublime and tiny tricks on the glints of reflective sunlight off of the suit look great too. In the darker night scenes, most of the time everything is well lit anyway and still remains impressive but I personally thought there was a slightly blurred or hazy look to the showdown between Iron Man and Iron Monger in the closing scenes, but this is more than likely an effects issue rather than the transfer as I felt much the same thing in the cinema back in May.

Audio

Iron Man’s audio had me on side from the get go, what with the use of AC/DC’s ‘Back in Black’ in the opening scene. It’s loud, it’s clear and I was impressed straight off. Then the explosion goes off and if I wasn’t convinced by this sound mix already, this did it. It’s incredibly powerful in the bass department but it’s more than just loud, there are little sounds in the speakers that really show the care in this mix. Pieces of debris, smoke and gun fire are all very well placed, which thankfully continues for the entire movie.

There are little touches to the sound effects that use all of the speakers without making it feel as if it’s showing off. Little hisses of pistons or creaks in the mechanics of Iron Man’s suit always feel like they have their own place in the surround system and they all blend together to keep it sounding natural and never forced. The dynamics in Iron Man’s flight as he whooshes across the screen is also impressive and the action sequences all take it up a notch without losing the subtle touches that are used in the quieter scenes. This was a great and thought-about sound mix that really compliments the movie and may very well be considered a show off mix by some. The biggest shame in the audio department is that the movie itself has no main theme to enhance the visuals. In fact, the music generally did very little to call attention to itself outside of the opening ‘Back in Black’ and Black Sabbath’s ‘Iron Man’ in the closing credits

Extras

I think extra features at their best should make you like the movie more than you already did and even more so make you want to go back and watch the movie all over again with all the information you’ve learnt, enabling you to appreciate it more. Iron Man has exactly those types of features.

Disc one comes with ‘The Invincible Iron Man’ (47:04) documentary which focuses on the comic book history. I dig these features on all the superhero movies and look forward to them greatly. This one is packed with detail and filled in a few gaps I had in my Iron Man history nicely, as well as highlighting why I think the character is a little limited.

There are eleven deleted/extended scenes (23.56), most of which are fillers, but there’s a nice one with a party scene that added something more to Tony Stark that’s well worth checking out. All of these scenes also gave me the feeling a directors/extended cut may be on the horizon just before Iron Man 2.

Rounding up disc one, is the ‘Hall of Armour’, in which you can see 360 degree turnarounds of the different Iron Man suits and is much the same as the recent Transformers one in both dullness and fluff. Also there’s a BD Live selection which wasn’t live at the time of the review.

Moving onto disc two, the first selection you have is ‘I am Iron Man’ (1hr 49mins), which is one of those features that does everything you want it to do. Every element of the production is covered without it ever getting dull. There are some great moments with all of the cast, and as per normal Fav is such a likable down to earth guy that you just feel welcomed into watching him work. Add to this, seeing Stan Winston and his people working in the studio, was as great as it was saddening. As this was one of the last movies he worked on before his recent death, it was nice to see the man at work, hear his thoughts on the film and hear how much he wanted to work on Iron Man. This true movie legend will be missed. This documentary has so many quality moments, that it really is a reason in itself to buy this Blu-ray.

Once you’ve finished the main meal of the features, there are still the deserts. First up there’s ‘Wired: The Visual Effects of Iron Man’ (27:01), which highlights just how much of this is CGI and how well it’s all hidden. There’s the Robert Downey Jr. screen test (6:03), which is actually quite unimpressive and shows how much he ups his game for the main event.

‘The Actors Process’ (4:13) is a cool little rehearsal between Robert Downey Jr. and Jeff Bridges as they work out a scene with Fav overseeing. It’s good seeing these two actors prepare and there should really be more of this on movie features in general.

A great addition to all this is The Onion news story about adapting the trailer into a full length movie (2:38). Those of you who may have not caught this online in the build up to Iron Man’s release are in for a treat. This is a wildly funny take on the current trailer buzz that’s evolved over the last ten years or so and just a great little extra to get with the movie.

Finishing up, there are four trailers and four galleries as well as the credits for the disc. In addition—and not really an extra feature as such—be sure to watch past the movie’s credits for the first hint of what’s to come in the future Marvel-movie franchise.

Overall

Despite the paint by numbers approach, Iron Man is a whole lot of fun. It’s by no means my favourite superhero movie of the year, like many other critics have proclaimed (well, maybe before The Dark Knight hit), but Iron Man is easy to watch and full of charm.

The Blu-ray isn’t quite the fine example of the format that I’d hoped for in the video department but it is by no means a letdown either. It’s a big studio movie handled with a lot of care and obviously a title they know could very well be one that will get the next wave of punters to adopt Blu-ray into their homes.

Fans and newcomers will be pleased with the entertaining and informative features that Paramount have put together and in many ways for me, have made Iron Man that little bit better a movie. All in all, this is a great package.

* Note: The images on this page are not representative of the Blu-ray release.

Advertisements

Comments

Reply

Message

Enter the message here then press submit. The username, password and message are required. Please make the message constructive, you are fully responsible for the legality of anything you contribute. Terms & conditions apply.

Anyone looking for the dumbest person in the world need look no further....The mighty Xage bought BOTH Blu-Ray and Standard dvd of this gem! Plus about 8 other sets, what a fine way to spend money, buying 8 sets of the SAME movie! $$$$$$

SnakePETER wrote: Yes of course, Yankeescf04.... why should someone like myself claiming to be such a huge fan of "Batman" need a reason to read any of the comics.... Sheesh.

Oh I know I have, but the real question is have any of you supposed "fans" read anything other than "The Dark Knight Returns", or "The Long Halloween"??? You people are aware of the fact that there was a "BATMAN" loooooonnngg before 1986, right? Long before Frank Miller ever touched the property, right? We're all clear on that, aren't we?

I apologize for calling you a douche bag, Sam... Yes, it was in poor taste on my part.

"But The Dark Knight is a beautifully written INTELLIGENT film that we do not see everyday."

I can't see how you or anyone could associate the word, "beautifully" with TDK, but whatever. TDK had it's moments, I'll give it that.... But it was in no way the PERFECT motion picture everyone has made it out to be.

Wait, there was Batman before 1986? Omgsh, this is brand new to me. I never knew this before! And there are more stories about Batman that Frank Miller didn't write!? Holy C**p! Thanks for enlightening me!

Pardon the sarcasm, I just couldn't help it. And also, The Dark Knight IS a beautifully written, intelligent film that we don't see everyday. It just happened that this year there was also Iron Man that was also intelligent, just different tones in film. Both films were really sweet, but honestly, I think IRON MAN was overhyped, after the fact. Don't get me wrong, it was great, but it wasn't near a masterpiece that everyone made it sound like. I was ever so slightly disappointed when I left the theater, but only the slightest little faint ray of disappointment. I did like the Dark Knight better, because I'm more of a fan of the more serious, darker take on these stories. I'm not saying these movies HAVE to be darker like people are bi***ing about, I'm merely saying that's the tone that I PREFER. I just find it extremely hard to understand how you think Nolan ruined the Batman character.

Firstly, top review Marcus and straight on my money. Secondly, have any of your ever read any of the graphic novels?

Like it and lump it dudes, what we all love about the characters is what someone else loathes. The franchises change every decade and everyone goes nuts except the newbies who never knew the difference. I’m not saying that I agree with Peter Parker going all emo, and I really don’t want to see another movie trilogy about Logan’s emotional love issues with adamantium claws but I understand why the Hollywood punks do it. Ironman and Tony Stark could have been a beautiful car crash. But it wasn’t.

I was expecting some gun-ho action piece of American propaganda movie but instead was pleasantly blow away. And not by the chick on my right, I honestly thought it was great. I went home that night wishing I had the suit. Would have been damn quicker than driving. Ok it’s yet another superhero origin movie but it gets over that quickly and builds up the story with a perfect blend of live action and CGI. After a while you just stop trying to work out what’s real and just enjoy it.

I total agree that Robert Downey Jr is back in a big way and has a similar edge to Jonny Depp in this flick and it totally worked, he’s upped his game and got the skills to pay the bills. I’m looking forward to the sequels and any spin offs. I know we are all secretly waiting for the announcements of The Avengers and Justice League movies.

Anyway, I can’t stress how much more I enjoyed this movie on Blu Ray, the features kept me entertained and filled in a few gaps and the sound and picture were just as I expected. I thought the Transfer was almost perfect. The only downside is the horrid grey discs..Honestly what the f**k.

Dark knight is in a different league, I’m not taking justice here either. I mean Ironman is a feel good movie, put it on day or night and you walk away happy. The Dark Knight is just so close to being perfect you need time in between to take it all in.

My summer of 08 was owned by Ironman and Bats, with movies like this, I have no doubt that you may see grown men cry when The Watchmen is released next year.

And on my final note, watch this movie, spend the green and get the blu and love it as much as I do.

SnakePETER wrote: Yes of course, Yankeescf04.... why should someone like myself claiming to be such a huge fan of "Batman" need a reason to read any of the comics.... Sheesh.

Oh I know I have, but the real question is have any of you supposed "fans" read anything other than "The Dark Knight Returns", or "The Long Halloween"??? You people are aware of the fact that there was a "BATMAN" loooooonnngg before 1986, right? Long before Frank Miller ever touched the property, right? We're all clear on that, aren't we?

I apologize for calling you a douche bag, Sam... Yes, it was in poor taste on my part.

"But The Dark Knight is a beautifully written INTELLIGENT film that we do not see everyday."

I can't see how you or anyone could associate the word, "beautifully" with TDK, but whatever. TDK had it's moments, I'll give it that.... But it was in no way the PERFECT motion picture everyone has made it out to be.

Yes of course, Yankeescf04.... why should someone like myself claiming to be such a huge fan of "Batman" need a reason to read any of the comics.... Sheesh.

Oh I know I have, but the real question is have any of you supposed "fans" read anything other than "The Dark Knight Returns", or "The Long Halloween"??? You people are aware of the fact that there was a "BATMAN" loooooonnngg before 1986, right? Long before Frank Miller ever touched the property, right? We're all clear on that, aren't we?

I apologize for calling you a douche bag, Sam... Yes, it was in poor taste on my part.

"But The Dark Knight is a beautifully written INTELLIGENT film that we do not see everyday."

I can't see how you or anyone could associate the word, "beautifully" with TDK, but whatever. TDK had it's moments, I'll give it that.... But it was in no way the PERFECT motion picture everyone has made it out to be.

Reminder Sam, Bruce "Whiny" Wayne is a billionaire also...and as a recommendation, please do not bring up TDK...I entirely agree with SnakePETER (specially about the fiction, and The Departed thing, nailed it), and this movie is overhyped. Yes, it is good, a 4/5, but it's not the greatest movie ever made, certainly not the best superhero movie ever, it sits along/below Superman II, X-Men 2 and Spiderman 2...

Anyways, great review...this along with Indy 4, Wall-E and TDK will make me buy into blu-ray...this edition looks as loaded as ALL new releases should be...

SnakePETER wrote: Argh, why'd I know some douche bag would bring up "The Dark Knight" sooner or later.

Thanks for calling me a douche bag, way to show you are so much better than me by bringing me down with a silly little cuss word that shows little character.Go you!

Of course The Dark Knight is going to to be brought up with anything comic book related. The Dark Knight was A)The best movie of the summer B) Best comic book movie in a while, if not ever. Not simply because it was "Darker." Sure it is certainly a dark movie that swims in the bowels of humanity and deals with how to deal with such evil. But The Dark Knight is a beautifully written INTELLIGENT film that we do not see everyday.

Iron Man is a paint by numbers film that is wonderful. Except it has a story line we have seen again and again and again. The old, rich guy finds out he was wrong, does right with some romance/comedy/sex thrown in to bring in a wider audience.

This was the 2nd best Marvel superhero movie, after Spider-Man 2. Can't wait to purchase the Blu-ray, pop it into the PS3, and be blown away by it all over again. Really wanna check out that deleted scene featuring a certain rapper who likes refering to himself as "Tony Starks" in his songs.....

I have to say, Marcus is definitely my favourite reviewer on this site. And to say you've only just joined is a great achievement. You have such a laid back approach to reviewing, they're always written in a direct, straight to the point fashion. So yeah, excellent review as always.

As for Iron Man itself, I completely agree. I had massive fun in the cinema watching this, but coming out I couldn't help think that it had recieved far too much praise for it's own good. It was an excellent film, but certainly not the 'second coming' of superhero movies that most people would have you believe.

I adore the Dark Knight, in fact it's probably my favorite movie of the year at this stage but at the same time I know what SnakePETER means when he says that theres something not quite comic book enough about it.

It's hard to pin down because the bat movie franchise has sort of evoled to this point through high's and lows and really only Batman could have this amount of realism and still work as well as it does, but for all of that realism it has to be said that something is lost in the translation.

SnakePETER wrote: Argh, why'd I know some douche bag would bring up "The Dark Knight" sooner or later.

Seriously, I just can't stand the whole "Darker is Better" attitude these days.... If you truly need your superhero movies to be SO drab, and dull that they basically spit in the face of the very reasons why we even turn to "fiction" in the first place then you need to get a life.

Now don't get me wrong, I'm in no way advocating garbage like "Fantastic Four", or "Ghost Rider" but I'm perfectly comfortable with my "fiction" being "fictional".

I sat down expecting to see a "Batman" movie, and instead what I got was a watered down version of "The Godfather", or "The Departed" even....

Thank you Mr. Nolan, for sucking the fun and romance out of my favorite comicbook character....

.... and thanks to all of you for patting him on the back for it.

Btw.... Iron Man was nice.

But Marcus' review PERFECTLY summed up my reaction towards it.

Wow. I agree with you that someone is always bringing up the Dark Knight in discussions where it doesn't need to be. However, I find it shocking that you are actually dissing on Nolan for what he did to the Batman franchise. You say that he sucked the fun out of your favorite character, but apparently you haven't read many Batman comic books or graphic novels, if any. Batman is an extremely dark character and he has dark stories. Nolan simply made a Batman film the way it was supposed to. ANYWAYS......

Iron Man was frickin' awesome. One of the most likeable and engaging characters I've watched in a long time; Props to Robert Downey Jr.

The DVD looks to be fantastic, especially with the amazing special featurues. When is the last time we've had a really good movie come out with lots of special features that amount to more than 15 minutes? It's certainly been awhile. Can't wait till the 30th!

Argh, why'd I know some douche bag would bring up "The Dark Knight" sooner or later.

Seriously, I just can't stand the whole "Darker is Better" attitude these days.... If you truly need your superhero movies to be SO drab, and dull that they basically spit in the face of the very reasons why we even turn to "fiction" in the first place then you need to get a life.

Now don't get me wrong, I'm in no way advocating garbage like "Fantastic Four", or "Ghost Rider" but I'm perfectly comfortable with my "fiction" being "fictional".

I sat down expecting to see a "Batman" movie, and instead what I got was a watered down version of "The Godfather", or "The Departed" even....

Thank you Mr. Nolan, for sucking the fun and romance out of my favorite comicbook character....

I don't like RDJ as a person, but as an actor, he was excellent in this movie (and "Tropic Thunder" ). The movie was way better than I thought it was going to be, and a helluva lot more fun than the vastly overhyped "Transformers".

It's just good fun. Although I wish Paramount would've included a commentary for both DVD and BD, instead of skipping it entirely.

May be paint by numbers, but it is done magnificently. I am getting so sick of comic book movies. The only way I can stand em is if they are done in unique ways like The Dark Knight. Iron Man certainly succeeds where others have failed though.Plus this has some of the most beautiful CGI effects. Can't wait for the sequel.

i love what marvel has been doing these last few years with most of their releases, having one documentary on the movie and another on the comic's history. not being a comic reader myself i find them rather informative. i mean they even gave the Elektra dvd this treatment, they must be serious.

and as for the movie itself, it was pretty darn cool. i agree that it wasnt the "awesome" movie most have made it out to be but its definately very good and Downey totally owned the movie.

i am curious to see that FX featurette to see what was CGI and what wasnt.